Getty New England Patriots QB Tom Brady & Kansas City Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes
With the Kansas City Chiefs rolling past the Indianapolis Colts on Saturday of the divisional round, it opened the door for the rematch NFL fans were clamoring for. If the New England Patriots got the job done Sunday against the Los Angeles Chargers, it would set up round two of Tom Brady vs. Patrick Mahomes.
Thanks to a dominant performance by the Patriots, it means one of the NFL’s best quarterbacks ever will square off against the league’s next big star for a chance to go to the Super Bowl. Brady and Mahomes met earlier this season, but the fact they’re meeting in the playoffs means the duo will make NFL history.
As CBS Sports revealed, the Brady-Mahomes matchup is the largest age gap ever between opposing quarterbacks in the playoffs. Brady enters the game at 41 years old while Mahomes is 23.
The AFC Championship Game will feature the largest age gap by opposing QBs in NFL playoff history with Tom Brady (41) and Patrick Mahomes (23).
Previous Matchup Between Brady and Mahomes
The Chiefs and Patriots met in Week 6 of the 2018 season in Foxborough with Kansas City holding an undefeated 5-0 record. Bill Belichick’s group was able to snap their unbeaten start with a 43-40 win on a game-winning field goal from Stephen Gostkowski. While both quarterbacks put up big numbers, Brady walked away with the tally in the win column.
Mahomes completed 23-of-36 passes for 352 yards and four touchdowns but also threw two interceptions. As for Brady, he threw for 340 yards on 24-of-35 passing with one passing touchdown and one rushing score.
Thanks to the strong play of both quarterbacks this year and dominant playoff openers, round two has the potential to bring even more fireworks.
Mahomes’ MVP Season Against Brady the Ageless Wonder
When the season began, the Chiefs quarterback had exactly one start under his belt. That quickly proved irrelevant, though, as he broke multiple NFL records throughout the year and was dominant in virtually every way. When the regular season wrapped up, Mahomes had thrown for 5,097 yards, 50 touchdowns and just 12 interceptions. His numbers were good for the second-most passing yards, most passing touchdowns (by 11) and second-best quarterback rating in the NFL.
And on the opposite side is Brady, who’s played 269 regular-season games and is still performing at an incredibly high level. While injuries hit the Patriots pass-catchers and his top target in Julian Edelman was suspended for the first four games, none of it was enough to halt the quarterback’s success.
Brady threw for 4,355 yards and 29 touchdowns while leading the Patriots to another season with double-digit victories. Over his career, there has been just season since 2001 where he failed to lead New England to 10 or more victories, and that came in 2002 when the team went 9-7.
It’s hard to argue that this isn’t the most intriguing AFC Championship Game matchup fans could hope for. The game between Brady and Mahomes will get underway Sunday, January 20 at 6:40 p.m. EST on CBS.
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